


an angel of war

by avengingdemigod



Category: Wonder Woman (2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-10 06:25:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11685912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avengingdemigod/pseuds/avengingdemigod
Summary: "The angel warrior, climbing up the ladder and into the land of death. A man’s voice, shouting, “Diana!” Strange, he hadn’t known that angels had names like Diana. No ordinary woman, for sure. She fought more bravely (and recklessly) than anyone he'd ever seen."Or, the story of a WWI veteran who swears that he saw an angel on the battlefield.





	an angel of war

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off the fact that some WWI veterans' accounts claim that angels appeared in the Battle of Mons to give assistance to the British. Most believe that they appeared from desperate hallucinations, and rumors about them were spread merely to give the soldiers hope, but the Wonder Woman movie has little tributes to the myth (a mysterious woman in armor, crackling lightning, etc.)

“And there she was,” slurred the old soldier, gray beard dripping with beer foam. “An angel. Just appeared outta nowhere.”

“Oh, yeah?” asked another man, laughing drunkenly. “What’d she look like, the angel?”

“Black hair,” the old man said dreamily. “Dark eyes. Looked straight at me, too. She was wearing some sorta red armor and had this fancy sword.”

His audience rolled their eyes collectively. “Sure, Grandpa. Sounds more like Snow White to me,” commented a younger soldier with dark hair. The man next to him laughed appreciatively. 

“You all laugh at me, but I swear I saw it with my own two eyes,” insisted the soldier. “None of you were there, so you didn’t see. She fought for us, boys. Without her, we never woulda saved the Veld.”

The old soldier can see it still so clearly, though he lost most of his vision after that battle. The angel warrior, climbing up the ladder and into the land of death. A man’s voice, shouting, “Diana!” Strange, he hadn’t known that angels had names like Diana. No ordinary woman, for sure. She fought more bravely (and recklessly) than anyone he'd ever seen.

The noise and bullets that followed made the world turn upside down in confusion, but one thing was clear: he was getting out of that trench, and he was pounding into the once-impenetrable area with his war buddies next to him. No one could touch them, or even seemed to see them--all the weapons and eyes were focused on the angel. He'd never forget those whoops of triumph, or the joy they shared at being alive.

She disappeared after that one battle, and he never saw her again. But the angel did her work well; the soldiers were inspired enough to save ten other villages after that. The war ended soon afterwards, and sometimes the old soldier liked to imagine that it was because of her. He hadn’t been very spiritual (it was hard to reconcile beliefs of a benevolent god with so much death and carnage), but he believed in her. A guardian angel, who’d saved the lives of hundreds in one day. These young soldiers, they didn’t believe him. They thought they knew better. But he knew what he saw that day, and he’d carry it with him forever. 

Yes, no one believed him. He was content to sit by his bottle, drowning his war memories in them. It was easier than facing the harder memories--his friends choking on gas, the children crying pitifully in the night, when they thought no one could hear them. Too old, too fast. He himself had only been 20 when the war ended. The war changed everything. When he came home, no one was there to greet him but a cold grave and a silent house. 

It was during one of his worst days, however, that he was visited by a man with clear blue eyes. He looked like he’d been through something tough; the older soldier recognized the steely determination and weary bags under his eyes, recognized the scars that still made him wince.

“Came in asking about an angel,” the soldier would later recall. “Can’t remember much except that. Told him all I could, but he seemed frustrated for some reason. Then he left, and I never saw him again either.” The man chuckled to himself and took another sip.

 

Years later, he visits the doctor. His liver is failing, his scars have begun to throb again, and he knows the end is drawing near. Truthfully, he's surprised he stayed this long. It’s almost a relief to know that the toils and burdens of this world will leave him soon. There hasn’t been much for him to hang onto, but he packs up his bags and decides to spend the last of his money traveling the world. One last hurrah and all that. 

He's in New York, the last leg of his trip, when he sees one of those new-fangled devices: tall vision sets, or whatever.  _ Must be magic _ , he thinks. Because shining on that grainy black and white screen is his angel. She turns directly to him, staring at him with those dark eyes. Just like all those years ago. A rush of nostalgia overtakes him, and his memories flash before his eyes, superimposed over the image of the woman.

His thin lips curve up into a small smile, and his angel carries him out of this world, into the next. 

 

OBITUARY:

John Doe was a World War I veteran who served for 2 years. Died suddenly of heart attack on street, and eyewitnesses claim the death was immediate. No surviving relatives have been found.

 

**Author's Note:**

> The timing with the TV and the man's age may be a little bit wonky, but I liked to imagine that someday in the future, Diana appeared on a TV as a superhero, and the soldier would happen to see her again.


End file.
